


EDILY

by HighKingRyan



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, EDITH glasses, M/M, My First Fanfic, Not quite a fix it, Post-Endgame, Pre-Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Sad Ending, Sorry Not Sorry, Starker, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, love notes?, more of a bandaid for a bullet wound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-06-29 01:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19820014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighKingRyan/pseuds/HighKingRyan
Summary: Months have gone by since Tony Stark sacrificed himself for the world. Peter is lost, with no idea how to continue. What should happen when a certain pair of glasses has a hidden protocol specifically for this? (I suck at summaries, please give it a shot.)





	1. The First of Many

"EDITH, pull up all know files containing references to Tony Stark and Peter Parker." Peter spoke quietly while in his room one night. He didn't know what time it was, nor did he care, because he hadn't slept in days. Even though it had been months since he died, Peter couldn't sleep without the fight replaying over and over in his nightmares. So he would pull up to records of the good times.

The file he always started with was the first time they danced together. It was late December, just after Christmas. They had just started to admit their feelings to each other. Tony took his hands, pulled him close, and swayed them back and forth to the soft music. They got so lost in each other, that nothing else in the world mattered. They barely even noticed when the songs changed, one after another, until a slow tune began playing and Tony began singing.

"Smile though your heart is aching. Smile even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by if you smile through your fear and sorrow. Smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through for you." He felt the tears start to fall, remembering what it felt like to be in his arms.

"EDITH, pause." He managed to choke out.

"Yes sir. Would you like me to execute the EDILY Protocol?" came the mechanical voice. Suddenly he glanced around and finally looked at his reflection in the mirror. He let out a sigh as he took in his appearance. His tear-stained face, his bloodshot eyes, even his messier than usual hair. He only hesitated a second, before responding.

"What is the EDILY Protocol?" Peter whispered.

"The EDILY Protocol stands for Even in Death, I Love You. Mr. Stark made it to only appear to you when you needed it most. I have determined that tonight is that time, given your elevated heart rate, shaky hands, and bloodshot eyes. Would you like me to execute the EDILY Protocol, sir?" EDITH explained.

"Please." came the reply, barely even a whimper. Suddenly, everything around him faded away and then Tony was in front of him. If he hadn't been sitting on his bed, his knees surely would have given way and he would have fallen to the floor.

"Hey kid. Stop crying love, EDITH never meant to keep me from you. It was my request. I knew you needed time, but I also knew I couldn't leave without saying goodbye. So, if you're watching this, that means, well, I'm gone. I'm so sorry that I didn't make it. I tried everything I could to bring everyone back and be with you, but it seems the universe has different plans. Look, I made mistakes when I lost you. I'm not saying Morgan isn't the best mistake, I'm just trying to say I'm sorry for the mistakes that lead to making her. God, I'm sorry that this is a mess, I just keep ruining this. Look, I know things before were a mess, and I also know that it was our mess, so call me crazy but I loved it. I loved you. I will always love you. You know how I love my acronyms, hence EDILY. Look, I'm hoping you'll never see this, but I'm also being realistic, so here goes nothing. I love you. I wish we had more time. Time never was on our side, was it? I obviously couldn't say all these things in front of everyone at the funeral, so I built in a protocol to make sure this got to you exactly when you needed it. I'm sorry if it took long, algorithms aren't the best with these things."

Tony glances around, as if to make sure they're alone. "I just really need you to survive this. I wouldn't be risking everything if I knew you wouldn't make it back. I know I'm rambling and now is about the time when you would kiss me to shut me and my brain up, but you're not here and I'm not there, so I'll try to wrap things up. Take care of yourself, kid. I know, superheroing is gonna be hard for a while, but you're the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Queens needs you. I believe in you. Now, to wrap this up in a bow, I should probably tell you that there are dozens more of these for you. I couldn't leave just one. You can't view them all right away, they have requirements for when you can see them. Some are specific dates, others are by algorithm. I hope they help you, in some way. You'll be able to play back any of them once they become available. So, I guess I'll see you soon. I love you, Peter. I always will."

Tony looks into Peter's eyes as the recording ends and the real world comes back into focus around him. He takes of the glasses and cries himself to sleep clutching them in his hands.


	2. The other shoe drops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets another recording after school, and then another after dinner to share with someone close.

Only a week went by before the next recording came to him. He was sitting in the hall outside the room where the academic decathlon meets, waiting for Ned and MJ to come out and ride home with him. The first snow had begun to fall the night before, and even with his super immune system, he didn't want to risk getting sick. He idly fiddled with the glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. He had a habit of wearing the EDITH glasses all the time now, ever since the first video. He hadn't gotten another one since, but he didn't want to miss one. He told everyone who questioned it that he needed prescription glasses and the Stark internship had asked him to beta test them. It wasn't completely a lie, considering the did come from Tony.   
It was as if just thinking about him made it appear, but suddenly Tony seemed to be standing on the floor in front of him. Peter gasped and glanced around, making sure nobody would see him cry.   
"EDITH, what is this for?" Peter asked softly, unsure what would have made this come to him.   
"I believe you should listen to Mr. Stark, sir." came EDITH's response, tinged with a bit of that signature Tony Stark sarcasm. He just loved to program his AI's with his personality.   
"Hey Pete. I don't even have an explanation for this recording, I just wanted to tell you some things about the future recordings. A lot of them were recorded before I even knew we had a shot at saving you. So not all of them will age well. And they may be hard to watch. But whenever I needed to talk something through with you while you were gone, I would make a recording on EDITH. God, I miss you so much kid. I really hope that I'm there with you and we can just laugh at how stupid I was to think that we wouldn't end up together in the end. The universe owes us that, at least. Anyways, I love you. I love you like I've never loved anyone before." Tony winked and then faded away.   
"Peter, we're gonna be late for dinner with May. What's with the spaced out look?" Ned rambled, snapping Peter out of his thoughts. He glanced up at them through the glasses, tears in his eyes and began to cry. Ned and MJ both sat next to him and attempted to comfort their friend.   
"It was another video wasn't it?" questioned MJ. "Oh who am I kidding, of course it was another one. Let's get you home, before Flash sees."   
They helped him up and then walked with him to the car that was waiting, courtesy of Stark Industries. May had invited them over for dinner, which wouldn't actually take place in the apartment they called home. It almost always entailed going to some cheap sit-down restaurant, which none of them minded. Food is food to teens.   
They chatted over dinner, but not once did the new video come up, thankfully. MJ may have a motor mouth, but she certainly knew that this was one thing he didn't want to tell May yet. The only reason MJ and Ned knew was because they knew his eyesight was 2020 because of the spider bite. Aunt May just figured he missed Tony soo much and wearing the glasses help. She wasn't too far off. Honestly, he could see why she would make that assumption. Sure, she knew he was Spider-Man, but after the Battle of Earth, and subsequently Tony's death, Aunt May let him grieve.   
Suddenly, May turned to him. "Where did you go, kid?" She spoke, voice giving away her concern. He didn't know how much longer he could keep her in the dark about the recordings.  
"Just thinking about what I'm gonna get you all for Christmas. You three are almost as hard to shop for as the Avengers." He joked, quickly brushing off May's concern. It seemed to work, because soon she was insisting that he invite all the avengers over for christmas.  
"Something tells me that would be a disaster, in our tiny apartment. Maybe we can have a christmas celebration at the new compound, or the penthouse. I'm sure Pepper and Morgan will want us to come visit them at the cabin." Peter rushed, trying to come up with anything to keep her off his dazed look.   
MJ wordlessly picked up on how exhausted the conversation was making him, and suggested they all head home early, due to the impending polar vortex. They all piled back into the car, and dropped Ned and MJ off at their places.   
Once they got back to their apartment, another recording started playing.   
"Hey Pete, I need you to do me a favor. There should be a USB hookup for EDITH, and I need you to attach the glasses to the TV, get May and tell EDITH to play. Please."   
"Okay. Hey May, can you sit down in the living room, I need to show you something." Peter shouted as he walked to his room to find the cord Tony was talking about. Once he had located it, he walked back out, holding EDITH in his hands. He plugged them into the TV, and sat down next to May. "EDITH, hit it."  
"What's EDIT-" May started, before being cut off by Tony showing up on the screen.   
"Hi May. This really isn't how I wanted to do this, but I guess this is how it has to be. I tried to find you after the decimation, but they told me you were gone too. Which I guess is a blessing, because at least one of us didn't have to go through 5 years without the sunshine we call Peter. Anyway, what I'm trying to say, I care a lot about you and Peter. I love him. I know it's not the best thing, or even remotely okay, but it's ours. Was ours. I'm glad that I was blessed enough to fall in love with your nephew, and I hated every minute we were apart. Peter never meant to hide this all from you. Hell, he damn near convinced me to telling you on multiple occasions, and would have won if I wasn't so scared of what you'd do to me." Tony rambled on, and Peter dared to glance at May. She sat patiently, watching as he ripped his heart out in front of her, professing his love for her only family left. She didn't seem surprised or upset, and honestly, Peter didn't know what she was thinking or how she was going to react.  
"What I'm trying to say here, or at least what I think I'm trying to say, is thank you. Thank you for raising him into the amazing man he is. For teaching him how to dance and tie a tie. For keeping him safe all those years. Keep him safe for me, because we all know I can't anymore." Tony paused, looking off into the distance, and then nodded, "I know you will object to this, but seeing as I'm gone, you can't really fight it. I've seen the world after the decimation. I can't imagine what it'll be like after we get everyone back, but I know it's not gonna be pretty. So, I've set aside some money for the two of you. Don't worry, it's not a huge amount, by any standard, but its enough to get you on your feet again, once we get you back. I just want what's best for the two of you. I couldn't rest if I knew you weren't at least set up for success."  
Tony turned, and almost looked directly at Peter, as if he knew they would sit where they were, even before they we back. "Peter, I love you. I need to talk to May for a minute, if that's alright with you. This is the only video you won't be able to watch again completely, and I'm sorry. I just need to say some stuff to May, and only May. I promise, you'll see me soon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you all like this chapter, I tried to make it longer, and that's why it took me so long. Writer's Block has been kicking my ass for a while now, and this is really helping me get back on my feet. The next chapter should be interesting, as it will probably just be between Tony and May. If you have any input for that, comment or shoot me a message, my tumblr is highkingryan also.  
> Thank you for all of your feedback, and if you have any suggestions for future recordings, feel free to drop them in the comments! I'm always searching for new ideas. Also, I made a playlist of music that I listen to while I write, and makes me really feel the emotion journey Peter is going through. Here's the link, it's on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WuJELgUAoPGcIUrZZHMYC?si=2HtelaYNRaKzc6dA9NgZtg


End file.
